Firmenich, the world’s largest privately-owned Perfume and Taste company, is announcing its joint participation with Quadia in green packaging pioneer LOOP’s Series A equity round. Announced at the American Cleaning Institute’s (ACI) annual convention, this investment demonstrates the Group’s commitment to the circular economy and addressing sustainability in a single-use era. Supported by some of the largest consumer brands, with early partners including Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Nestlé, LOOP is a new, disruptive e-commerce and retail distribution service based on reusable packaging.
“As a global environmental leader with a unique legacy in responsible business, we are firmly committed to eliminating non-recycled plastics in our operations and supply chains,” said Gilbert Ghostine, CEO Firmenich. “Our participation in LOOP’s pioneering model to remove waste marks a new milestone in our journey to foster sustainable production and our active support for the circular and regenerative economy.”
“Single-use waste is a growing environmental issue that no company can ignore. We need innovative businesses like LOOP and collaboration between multiple stakeholders to tackle such a global challenge,” said Dr Bérangère Magarinos-Ruchat, Chief Sustainability Officer Firmenich. “We are delighted to contribute to LOOP’s growth and the acceleration of sustainable lifestyles.”
This joint participation with sustainable investment firm Quadia is aligned with Firmenich’s values and strong commitments to minimize its environmental impact. Firmenich is one of only two companies worldwide, out of more than 7000, to have achieved “triple As” with CDP, in Climate, Water and Forestry. Committed to a net zero carbon future by 2050, Firmenich currently operates with 100% renewable electricity in North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, China and India, well on its way to achieving 100% worldwide in 2020.
Recognized as an industry leader in sustainability, the Group was recently awarded the IMD-Pictet Sustainability in Family Business Award 2019 as well as the “Most Sustainable Company in the Flavours and Fragrance Industry” award by World Finance magazine. As a UN LEAD Company, Firmenich embeds the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in its growth strategy, innovating to help solve some of the world’s greatest challenges, from inequality and climate change to nutrition and sanitation.
LOOP allows brands to redesign the packaging of their most consumed products in line with a circular e-commerce model that maintains the two main benefits of disposability: convenience and affordability. It modernizes the traditional “milkman model” in an efficient and durable way by tackling the issue of single-use plastic waste. By managing the collection, storage, cleaning and delivery of clean packaging to manufacturers, LOOP is the first of its kind global packaging and shopping circular solution. The funds raised in this equity round will finance the initial deployment of LOOP before expanding global operations in the UK, Japan, Germany and Canada in 2020, and Australia in 2021.
About Firmenich
Firmenich is the world’s largest privately-owned perfume and taste company, founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1895. Driven by its purpose to create positive emotions to enhance wellbeing, naturally, Firmenich has designed many of the world’s best-known perfumes and tastes, bringing delight to over four billion consumers every day. Renowned for its world-class research and creativity, as well as its leadership in sustainability, each year, Firmenich invests 10% of its turnover in R&D to understand and share the best that nature has to offer responsibly. Firmenich had an annual turnover of 3.9 billion Swiss Francs at end June 2019. More information about Firmenich is available at www.firmenich.com.